Improved head-block for holding boots and shoes



UNITED STATES ISAAC E. ALLEN, OF WINDHAM, MAINE.

IMP'ROVED HEAD-BLooK-FQR HOLDING BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,657, dated February 20, 1866.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, ISAAC' E. ALLEN, of Windham, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented anew and uset'ul Head-Block for Holding Boots and Shoes while being Pegged 5 and l hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others tov make and use my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l shows a side elevation of my invention; Fig. 2, a plan of the top ofthe saine; Fig. 3, a section of my invention.

'Ihe object of my invention is to produce a convenient head-block for holding boots or shoes while being pegged.

My invention consists in the combined arrangement of several devices, hereinafter described, which serve to hold a boot or shoe rigidly to the block.

B shows a piece of wood or metal upon which the device for holding the boot or shoe is placed, and to which it is secured.

A represents a rest for the toe ot' the boot or shoe, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3.

P is an inclined plane consisting of the two parts s s, Fig. 2, and having in both ot' these parts the grooves or notches a.

N is a piece of iron, or wood, or other proper substance having the pivots p, which are designed to fit into the notches a.

L shows a lever of the indicated form, and working in the space O of the block B. To this is attached the bar t, which passes through the piece N, so that the piece N slides backward or forward upon the loa-r.

The projection m from the piece N is intended to penetrate the hole in a last, as illustrated in the drawings.

r is aspring to restore the lever L to such position that the projection will stand vertically, or nearly so.

My invention is operated as follows, viz: rlhe last being placed within the shoe is set upon the head-block, as shown in Fig. 1, with the projection m penetrating the last. The block can rest upon the knees or in any other convenient manner. By pressing the foot into the strap indicated at y, Fig. l, the lever L, with the bar t, turns the pIeceN upon the pivots 19, so as to incline the projection m somewhat toward the restA, thus pressing the last upon the rest, and holding tlielast iirmly upon the block. The piece N, sliding upon the bar t, can belplaced at a distance from the rest A- sufticient to accommodate a last of any size, and there held in the notches a. When the pressure of the foot is removed from the strap y the springrrestores the lever and bar to the positions shown in Fig. 1, so that the last can be easily removed. The space M, Fig. 2, between the two sides of the inclined plane P, admits ot' the free motion of the bar t.

When boots are to be pegged on my headblock, a piece of wood constructed so as to fit on the two parts s s of the inclined plane P is substituted for the piece N, which, withI the bar t, is then removed from the block. The bar t is detached at V. 'The leg of the boot is then folded on one side, so that the top.v of the last may rest on the piece of wood. The strap Q, passing through the aperture w ofthe lever L, is then adjusted to the boot,'as illustrated in Fig. l, and the binding force of the lever L thus applied to the last.

W'hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the rest A, the inclined plane P, the 4piece N, having the projection m, the lever L, bar t, and spring r, arranged and constructed substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

l. The use, with the above combination, of the block to restnpon the two portions of the inclined plane P, and of the strap Q, substantially as and for the purposeherein described.

ISAAC E. ALLEN. 

